Download If the producers in an ecosystem capture 1000 units of energy, how

Essential Question: How are
the entities of life
interconnected?
Four Spheres of Earth
❧
❧Atmosphere: air
❧Lithosphere: land/
crust
❧Hydrosphere:
water in all forms
❧Biosphere: all
living things
❧
Ecology
❧
❧ = the study of how living things interact
with each other AND their environment
❧ Can be studied at different levels!
❧ Includes:
❧ Nutrient Cycles
❧ Feeding Relationships & Energy Flow
❧ Species interactions: competition, symbiosis, &
important roles
Biotic vs. Abiotic
❧
Bio: living
Biotic: living organism
organism
A: no or non
Abiotic: non living
Ecological Hierarchy
❧
I. Individual
organism
II. Population
III.Community
IV.Ecosystem
V. Biome
VI.Biosphere
Ecological Hierarchy
❧
II. Population: same species living in an area
❧ Species = group of similar organisms that can
interbreed
❧ Example: all the Giant pandas in a forest
III. Community: group of different populations
living in same area
❧ Example: All the different plants & animals in a forest
with the panda
Ecological Hierarchy
❧
IV. Ecosystem: area where living (biotic) &
nonliving (abiotic) things interact
❧ where plants & animals interact with each
other & water, soil, wind, sunlight
Ecological Hierarchy
❧
V. Biome: Ecosystems with similar climates
and communities
❧Examples: forest, desert, grassland, ocean,
etc.
VI. Biosphere: all ecosystems on earth
Draw your own Ecological Hierarchy
❧
Pick an organism and then draw the 5 different levels in that organism’s
ecological hierarchy.
Must be labeled correctly, neat, colorful, and creative!
❧
Biogeochemical Cycles
(Nutrient Cycles)
❧
❧In terms of matter, Earth is a closed
system
❧Nothing enters or leaves, just recycled
❧This is the Law of Conservation of
Matter!
❧ Matter is neither created nor destroyed, but
recycled and reused
❧Important cycles: carbon, oxygen,
nitrogen, phosphorus, water
Carbon Cycle = process where C is cycled
b/w atmosphere, land, water, & organisms
(during photosynthesis & cellular
respiration)
❧ Steps:
Write
steps into
notes!
How Humans Affect the Carbon Cycle
❧ Burn fossil fuels → releases CO2 into atmosphere
❧ More CO2 in atmosphere causes global warming through
greenhouse effect
How You Can Reduce Your
Carbon Impact:
❧Use gas-efficient cars
❧Carpool/ use public
transportation
❧Walk or ride bike
when possible
❧Eat locally-grown
food
❧Use less plastics &
disposable products
Oxygen Cycle = process where oxygen is
cycled b/w atmosphere, ocean, & organisms
❧ All organisms need Oxygen
1. Producers release O2 during photosynthesis
❧CO2 + H2O + sun → C6H12O6 + O2
2. Organisms use O2 during cellular respiration
❧ C6H12O6 + O2 → CO2 + H2O + energy
3. O2 is stored:
❧Dissolved in oceans
❧Oxygen in the atmosphere:
❧ O2 is 21% of lower atmosphere
❧ Ozone (O3) in upper atmosphere protects us from UV
rays
Nitrogen Cycle = process where nitrogen (N) is
cycled b/w atmosphere, bacteria, & other
organisms
❧ All organisms need N for proteins & nucleic acids
(DNA)
1. N2 gas must be changed by nitrogen-fixing bacteria:
❧ They convert N2 into nitrates (NO3)
2. Plants get NO3 from soil → animals eat plants
3. Plants & animal waste puts N back into soil in form
of ammonia (NH4)
4. Other bacteria convert ammonia into nitrites (NO2)
& nitrates
Nitrogen Cycle
How Humans Affect the
Nitrogen Cycle
❧Have doubled
amount of N on land
due to use of
fertilizers & burning
fossil fuels
❧Problems of too
much N:
❧ Rivers & lakes
becoming acidic
❧ Global warming
Hydrologic (Water) Cycle = path of H2O
through environment
❧ Most H2O is stored in oceans
❧ Ocean H2O is turned to vapor (gas) by evaporation &
winds push vapor around globe
❧ H2O vapor turns to liquid in atmosphere =
condensation
❧ Liquid falls as precipitation (rain, snow, etc.)
❧ Living organisms use H2O, then return it to
environment through:
❧ Breathing & sweating
❧ Waste
❧ Transpiration from leaves (plants) (leaves sweating)
❧ Water Cycle
❧
How Humans affect the
Water Cycle:
❧
❧Remove H2O faster than nature can
replace it
❧Drain wetlands → increases flooding
❧Pollution
Phosphorus Cycle = movement of phosphorus
(P) between environment & organisms
❧P is important in DNA and ATP
Steps:
1.Rocks erode, putting phosphate into soil and water
2. P is taken up by plants & converted to organic
molecules
3. Animals eat plants
4. Decomposing plants & animals & waste return P to
environment
❧How humans affect P cycle:
❧ Excess phosphate from fertilizers can cause too much
algal growth in water → kills fish & other organisms
Phosphorus
Cycle
❧
Excess P due
to fertilizers!
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
❧ Ultimate source of
energy = sun
❧ Plants, algae, & some
bacteria capture solar
energy - perform
photosynthesis
❧ Organelle that
performs
photosynthesis =
chloroplast (pigment
inside = chlorophyll)
Photosynthesis
❧
❧= Carbon dioxide + water + solar energy
→ sugar (glucose) & oxygen
❧CO2 + H20 + solar energy → C6H12O6 + O2
Reactants
Products
Photosynthesis
❧
❧Performed by producers = an organism
that makes its own food via
photosynthesis*
❧Aka autotrophs
From producers to ….
❧
❧Consumer = an organism that gets
energy by eating other organisms
❧Aka heterotroph
❧ Producers & Consumers convert sugar
into usable energy through cellular
respiration
❧Organelle that performs cellular respiration
= mitochondria
Cellular respiration
❧
❧= Glucose + oxygen →carbon
Energy
dioxide & water & energy (ATP) molecule
❧C6H12O6 + O2 → CO2 + H20 + ATP
Reactants
Products
Consumers can be
categorized by…
❧What is eats:
❧ Herbivore: eats producers
❧ Carnivore: eats other consumers
❧ Omnivore: eats producers & consumers
❧ Scavenger: eats dead large animals
❧ Decomposer: breaks down dead
producers & consumers (bacteria &
fungi)
Consumers are Categorized by
Trophic Level
❧In a food chain/ web,
each step is called a
trophic level
❧Producers = 1st trophic
level
❧Herbivores = primary
consumers = 2nd trophic
level
❧Carnivores & Omnivores
= secondary consumers –
3rd trophic level
❧And so forth…
Trophic Level Energy Loss
❧Energy flows through environment (sun →
organisms → space)
❧Energy is lost as it flows (according to 2nd Law of
Thermodynamics)
❧At each trophic level:
❧ 90% of energy from food is used for life functions
(ex: movement, growth, reproduction, homeostasis)
❧ Some energy is lost as heat
❧ Remaining 10% energy becomes part of organism’s
body & is available to next trophic level
Energy Pyramids
❧ Each layer of pyramid
represents a trophic level
❧ Only 10% of energy makes
it to next level
❧ B/c so much energy is lost
at each level, there are
fewer organisms as go up
❧ Loss of energy limits the #
of tropic levels in
ecosystems
❧ Usually have <5
Example: a single lion needs ~250 km2 of land to hunt
Energy Pyramid Math Problems
– write these in your notes!
❧
1. If the producers in an ecosystem capture 1000 units of
energy, how many units are available to the primary
consumers?
❧ Answer: 100 units
❧ 1000 x 10% (0.1) = 100 units to next level
2. If the producers in an ecosystem capture 5000 units of
energy, how many units are available to the tertiary
consumers?
❧ Answer: 5 units
❧ 5000 for producers → 500 for primary consumers → 50
for secondary consumers → 5 for tertiary consumers
Roles In The Environment
❧Niche = unique role of a species in
its ecosystem
❧Includes:
❧What it eats & what eats it
❧If/ how it alters the environment
❧Interactions with other species**
Species Interactions Include:
1. Predator/prey
2. Competition = when
individuals or populations
attempt to use the same
limited resource
• What resources might be
competed over?
• Food, space, water,
mates
3. Symbiosis = relationship
in which 2 species live in
close association
3 Types of Symbiosis:
1. Mutualism =
close relationship
where both
organisms benefit
(+,+)
3 Types of Symbiosis:
2. Commensalism =
relationship where
one organism
benefits & the other
is neither helped
nor harmed (+,0)
3 Types of Symbiosis:
3. Parasitism =
relationship where
one organism
benefits and the
other gets hurt (+,-)
Other Important Roles that
Organisms Play:
❧ Keystone species: have a large
effect on other species &
biodiversity
❧ Generally = top predators
❧ Loss of top predator can
cause trophic cascade
❧ Examples:
❧ Alligator
❧ Sea otter
❧ Gray wolf
keystone
Other Important Roles that
Organisms Play:
❧Indicator species: provide
early warning of
damage/pollution to an
ecosystem
❧ Examples:
❧ Frogs – warn of water pollution
❧ Birds & Butterflies – warn of air
pollution, habitat loss
❧ Aquatic insects – warn of water
pollution
Other Important Roles that
Organisms Play:
❧Foundation species: create or
enhance their habitats
(physically), which benefit
others
❧ Ex: Beavers, alligators,
elephants